#HORIZON CALL OF THE MOUNTAIN RYAS UPGRADE#

Even so, it’s such a quantum leap over the original PSVR in terms of ease of use, visual quality, and immersion that any PlayStation owner who loves VR should upgrade as soon as possible. The PlayStation VR2 may seem pricey, given that it costs $150 more than the base PS5 Digital Edition console you’ll need to use it. It’s frustrating then, that it dominates much of what you’ll be doing in Call of the Mountain, in particular when compared to its much less frequent but infinitely more exciting combat sections. Although some ascents offer slightly more excitement than others, I can honestly say I never found climbing to be consistently fun. It does get slightly more interesting once tools such as the grappling Grabcaster are introduced, and the immersion of it all as the wind swirls around your ears and the excellent music swells as you reach the next peak is undeniable. Climbing isn’t overly challenging, but honestly reaching for handhold after handhold gets quite dull after you’ve scaled your third or fourth outcrop. Now, I wasn’t naive enough to think that a game called “Call of the Mountain” wouldn’t involve some climbing, but I was taken somewhat off guard when I found that it really is the majority of what you’ll be doing here, especially in the early hours. Almost so much climbing that you may find yourself wanting to climb the walls of your house as well. Climbing rock faces by lodging dual pickaxes into them. There are quite a few opportunities for potential plummets as well, thanks to the sheer amount of climbing you’re asked to do. I’m not too terrible with real heights, but here I did start to feel a little queasy when looking down at some of the ludicrous distances I could fall from. Now’s the time to say that if you suffer from any level of vertigo, this may not be the game for you. Everyone’s mileage on this will obviously vary based on your VR tolerances, so I’d recommend trying out both to see which suits you best. I did, however, find myself switching to the analog sticks whenever entering combat, as the dodge mechanics associated with this moveset (a flick of the right stick) made for a much easier time.

At first, the gesture system didn’t strike me as overly intuitive, but once I got to grips with it I preferred it simply because it made me feel far less nauseous when playing for long stretches (by which I mean about 30 minutes).

After trying both I opted for the former for most of my playthrough, despite both coming with their pros and cons. There are two movement options to choose from: a “gesture”-based system that moves you around when holding two buttons and imitating a walking motion with your arms, and a more traditional analog stick-based system.

This narrow approach naturally works well in VR, even if some of the inherent exploration that Horizon normally offers is lost. An inquisitive mind is occasionally rewarded with fun side activities, such as stacking rock cairns or collectible archery targets to hit, but mostly you’ll be guided down a funneled path.

What’s notable, however, is that this is very much a linear experience that stands in sharp contrast to Zero Dawn or Forbidden West’s vast open worlds. Rocky landscapes to explore, hostile machines to take down, puzzles to solve – it's all here. It’s a real showcase for the PS VR2 right off the bat, with huge spectacle blending with small detail – right down to the delicate ripples your fingers make in the water and the rude splashes made by the feet of giant machines.īlockbuster opening aside, over the course of its roughly six-hour campaign Call of the Mountain takes the essence of Horizon’s gameplay and boils it down into a much more manageable set of tools that works in VR. The first time you see the scale of some of these creatures really is a sight to behold, not only from the shift to true first-person perspective emphasizing their true size, but with their presence felt further thanks to the haptic feedback felt both in each controller and the headset itself: as you quite literally feel the ground shake with every step as these massive machines pass by.

Horizon call of the mountain ryas